Friday, January 20, 2012

If somebody offered you free gas for your car, you’d gratefully accept. So why are you turning down free hot water for your home?

Up to 15 percent of your energy bill goes to heat water—but it doesn’t have to. The sun can do it for free.

When it’s time to replace your water heater, consider installing a solar version. Don’t let the price tag—several thousand dollars compared with several hundred for a conventional water heater—scare you off. By the time you claim your federal and state tax credits and get your APS rebate as an incentive for installing such an energy-efficient device, you’ll pay as little as $1,000 out of pocket for your fancy new system if your water use is average.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are poised to replace those familiar incandescent bulbs we’ve been using since electricity became a household necessity.

Among their benefits:

CFLs use 90 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs.

They emit very little heat. Unlike CFLs, incandescents waste energy because they spend 90 percent of their energy on heat and only 10 percent on light. That also adds heat to your home’s air and makes your air conditioner work harder.

CFLs last about 10 times longer than incandescents, so you don’t have to change your light bulbs nearly as often.

The quality of CFLs continues to improve. Early versions of fluorescent light bulbs were an odd white color, took a long time to light up when you flicked the light switch and gave off a buzzing sound. Today’s CFLs are smaller, come on almost instantly, appear close in color to the traditional incandescent bulb and are silent.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Sign up with your electric utility for a “time of use” rate plan; both APS and SRP offer them. You’ll pay a reduced rate for electricity if you run your pool pump and other appliances—like your dishwasher or washing machine—during hours of the day when demand for electricity isn’t at its peak.

1. Example: SRP will cut your “off-peak” rate from the standard 11 cents per kilowatt-hour (a measure of electricity use) to around 6.5 cents if you run your pool pump and other appliances between 8 p.m. and 1 p.m. during the summer. If you run the devices between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m., you’ll pay more to use the same electricity.

SRP estimates that “time-of-use” customers save up to 7 percent on their electric bills.

2. Run your pool pump less. It’s not necessary to run it around the clock. Most manufacturers recommend running it between eight and 10 hours a day in the summer and about half that in the winter.

3. Put a timer on the pump so it automatically shuts off after those hours, and set it to run only when you’re paying off-peak rates.